Finishing welt and process of making the same



Mar. 3. 1925.

R. C. SCHEMMEL FINISHING WELT AND PROCESS OF MAKING THE SAME Filed May v 22, 1924 H 5 clam nu Patented Mar. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT C. SOHEMMEL, 0F UNION CITY, INDIANA, ASSIGNOB- TO THE BAOKSTAY MA CHINE & LEATHER COMPANY, OF UNION CITY, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

FINISHINGQWELT AND PROCESS OF MAKING THE SAME. I

Application filed May 22,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT C. SCHEMMEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Union City, in the county of Randolph and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Finishing VVelts and Processes of Making the Same; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the. invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same;

There are upon the market at the pres ent time a variety of welts, gimps and bindings made of leather, leather substitutes and woven fabrics for use in trimming automobile bodies and tops, other vehicles, furniture, etc. Finishing welts of the character indicated are exemplified by U. S. Patent-s Nos. 1,226,600 and 1,490,856, issued to the undersigned, assignor to The Backstay Machine and Leather Company, under the respective dates of May 15, 1917 and April 15, 1924.

In the production of welts or bindings and gimps of the character indicated, it is important that they possess great flexibility, thus enabling the trimmer to neatly and effectively turn corners when applying the same in operative positions. V

Ordinarily trimming welts as applied to vehicle bodies and tops, are secured in position by tacks, and it is considered good taste and judgment to so arrange such attaching means that it'is concealed from view by agency of the welt itself, this type of welt being known to the trade as blind nail welt.

There are instances also wherein independent and separable wires have been employed to render the welt relatively stiff in form, so that when shaped or molded into finished form it will adhere to such shape by virtue of the within contained or enfolded stiffening wires aforesaid. I know of no instance however, rior to my present invention, where sti ening wires have been actually woven into the body of the fabric from which finishing welts are manufactured, so as to constitute an inseparable part of the fabric itself without in the leastwise increasing the bulk thereof, or altering its a pearance when shaped into final marketa le form. Neither have I 1924. Serial No. 715,164.

knowledge of any prior welt construction wherein such interwoven wires have been employed to impart to finishing welts, gimps or bindings the exact degree of stiffness required under varying conditions, and wherein the material once formed, requires no other means whatever of retaining it in the desired shape.

My present invention therefore has for an object the production of finishing welts, gimps and bindings, or other articles of manufacture, made u on a fabric base, having at predetermine intervals interwoven metallic strips or strands of wire, preferably annealed and of a gauge corresponding with that of the fabric strands employed so that. when folded into final finished form transversely across the wire strands aforesaid, the manufactured article will retain its shape by reason of the stiffening qualities of the wire so employed.

As a further object my present invention contemplates and provides for the manufacture of finishing welts of the char acter indicated, wherein the wire-contained woven-base material is treated and impregnated by a suitable leatherizing dope, and is finally given a surface graining or ornamentation in imitation of leather.

A further object of the present invention resides in a novel method of manufacturing finishing welts consisting of weaving into the basic material stiffening wires at predetermined intervals to afford the desired degree of stiffness, impregnating the base with a suitable leatherizing compound, cutting the said basic material into suitable strips, and forming the latter into welts adapted to be retained in form by agency ofhe within-contained wire strands aforesai With the foregoing and other objects in view the resent lnvention will now be particularly described and later pointed out by the claims appended.

In the accompanying drawings which form part of this application for Letters Patent, and whereon corresponding reference characters indicate like parts in the several views:

Figurel is a-plan view of a woven fabric base or body material, suitable for the production of welts, gimps, bindings, or other articles ofmanufacture, and illustrating at one end a portion thereof which has been at one end, and in process of folding at the other end, including concealed fastening means or tacks.

Reference being had to the drawings and numerals thereon, 1 indicates the warp orlongitudinal strands, and 2 the interwoven weft or transverse strands of the welt-cloth or basic material from which finishing welts or other articles of manufacture may be made, there being interwoven at predetermined distances weft strands 'of wire 3 as best shown by Figure 2, imparting to this basic material a degree of stiffness in proportion to the selected frequency of the said wires 3. These bendable wires 3 may be arranged to run either longitudinally, or as shown, transversely, and are of a gauge corresponding with that of the. fabric or fibre strands 1, with which they -.cooperate to pro-- duce a uniformly fiat woven base as and for the purposes indicated.

When desirable that the finished goods should resemble in appearance leather, the basic welt-cloth aforesaid is impregnated in the ordinary and well understood manner with a suitable leatherizing compound, and is'then suitably grained between graining rollers as indicated at 4, Figure 1.

In the production ofwelt corresponding with Figures 3 and 4 forexample, the basic material, arranged and treated substantially as aforesaid, is folded around a bead or roll 5 as shown by said figures, Suitable tacks such as 6 are then driven through the base of welt, the extended portion or tack-concealmg flap of which is then folded upon the base portion as indicated by Figure 4 to cover and conceal the attaching tack heads 6. The transversely arranged wires 3 being thusbent and folded upon themselves as best shown by Figure 3, serve to retain the finished welt in its folded finished osition because of their stiffening properties, and it will be noted that the degree of stiffness or rigidity, to meet varying requirements, is regulated by the frequency with which wires 3 are woven into the fabric. 1f greater stiffness is required a reater number of wires is employed; if ess stiffness, then a lesser number of wires 3 than those illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings;

The foregoing being a description of my present invention in one form of embodiment, it should be noted that I do not limit myself to the exact product set forth, nor to the. method steps enumerated, but on the contrar lay claim to all products and methods of producing welts, gimps, and bindings having a base formed of interwoven fabric and wire strands arranged and adapted to retain the parts in their proper relative positions after folding or forming. Neither do I considerthis invention/limited in its scope and usefulness to the manufacture of welts, gimps and bindings, but on the contrary claim all uses to which my improved material can be applied as for example the manufacture of certain interior fittings for closed automobiles, such as ashreceptacles, match-boxes, vanity-boxes, and appliances .that can readily be shaped or formed, and retained in position by agency of the stiffening wires aforesaid.

It should be understood that my improved welt-cloth is produced by intertwining or interlacing with the usual fibre strands, a suitable number of pliablewire strands to insure the proper degree of-stiffness, so that when folded transversely across such wire strands, intothe form of finishing welts, or other articles of manufacture, the said articles will retain their finished shape, or folded forms, by reason of the stiffening properties of the wire strands thus employed.

And, it will be further understood that use herein of the word pliable as applied to metallic or wire strands is intended to indicate a material such as annealed wire, or strip lead-for example, which may be readily folded flatly upon itself, and when so folded will retain that folded form or position independent of other fastening means.

One satisfactory manner of producing welt-cloth of the character above indicated is that of interweaving warp and weft strands in. the usual manner of making woven fabrics, except for a suitable number of transverse or weft strands of relatively soft annealed and therefore pliable wire which are substituted for a like number of fibre strands.

My present invention however is not lim ited to pliable metallic strands running in one direction only, because it is entirely within the spirit of this invention to run them in either or both directions, and to vary them in number with relation to that of the fibrous strands employed according to the degree of stiffness desired or required.

c Having thus described my present inven tion what I now claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

LA finishing welt of the blind-nail type including a base portion and a tack-concealing flap formed from a body strip having integrally embedded therein pliable metallic plia strands extending into the tackconcealing flap and adapted to retain the latter in finished form when folded upon the base portion.

2. A finishing welt of the blind-nail type including-a base portion-anda tack-conceal-. ing fla ,formed from a body stri having integra ly' embedded therein plia 1e wire strands extending into the tack-concealing flap and adapted to retain the latter in finished form when folded upon the base portion.

3. A finishing welt of the blind-nail type including a base portion and a tack-concealing flap formed from a body strip having inte ally embedded therein independent 1e metallic strands extending into the and adapted to retain tack-concealing fla 5 form when folded upon the latter in finishe the base portion.

4. A finishing welt of the blind-nail ty includin a base portion and a tack-concea ing flap ormed froma bodystrip having 1n; terwoven therein independent parallel wire termmed intervals extendin throug out its entire width by interwoven independent wire strands extending into the tack-concealing flap and adapted to retain the latter in finished form when foldedupon the base portion a 6. A finishing welt of the blind-nail type including a base portion and a tack-concealing fla formed y a body strip reinforced throng out its entire width by interwoven independent pliable wire strands at predeinto the tackco'noealing flap-and adapte to'retain the latter in finished form when folded upon the base portion.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature.

ROBERT o." soHEnmEL. 

